Jojo is an inspirational young activist, who in 2022 was named Young Ocean Optimist of the Year by The Marine Conservation Society, despite having enough issues of his own to deal with. Here's a report from his Mum.
We adopted Jojo as a baby. He has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder from being exposed to alcohol whilst in the womb, ADHD and a learning disability. Despite that, he's exceptionally intelligent and his brain works in a magnificent way. Just over 3 years ago, age 6, he was due to have surgery for a colostomy. Before he went into hospital, I asked him what he wanted to do before he went in, and he said "I want to save the oceans". He'd always had a love of the oceans, spotting sharks and dolphins in books from an early age.
Whilst in hospital, unfortunately, Jojo had every complication going. He ended up being nil by mouth for 28 days and going down to theatre 7 times. His last surgery ended up removing his large bowel and making an ileostomy. Jojo was so, so poorly at the time, often he would wake up, take his dummy out, ask "Have I saved the ocean yet?" and go back to sleep. Three years on, and Jojo is doing really well. He was peg fed for 2 years, but in the last year has started eating orally again, however he still has fluids through his peg 3 times a day. He's really proud of his ileostomy, and can remember how poorly he felt before his surgery, whereas now he can swim, do gymnastics and live life like any 9 year old should
Jojo is still desperate to save the oceans. He loves doing litter picks and "helping my planet", and has done various things to raise money for charities like sponsored swims, selling drawings and making Christmas cards. For his 8th birthday we asked him what he wanted and he replied "a gazillion people to do a litter pick for me". We did our best through his Facebook page, and we didn't quite get a gazillion, but definitely over a hundred from all over the world.
In 2022, Jojo was named Young Ocean Optimist of the Year by The Marine Conservation Society. It was a huge honour. Jojo doesn't really understand how huge it is, just like he doesn't understand that raising over £3,500 for charity is pretty amazing. Jojo doesn't care about any of that, as long as he's doing something to help "his" planet, or watching "his" precious ocean animals, then he's happy.
Sally Marjoram
What an amazing young man. Our congratulations to him! Editor.